Health study of former South Weymouth Naval Air Station stirs controversy

Tuesday

Oct 1, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 1, 2013 at 1:08 AM

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health plans to unveil Thursday the results of its investigation into cases of multiple sclerosis and possible links to contamination at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, but some local officials are asking why they received little or no information about the meeting.

Chris Burrell and Christian Schiavone

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health plans to unveil Thursday the results of its investigation into cases of multiple sclerosis and possible links to contamination at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, but some local officials are asking why they received little or no information about the meeting.

Weymouth Mayor Susan Kay said her office received a memo from the department Sept. 19 announcing a meeting to discuss a study on the prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and multiple sclerosis in Southeastern Massachusetts, but it made no mention of the former air base or its present incarnation, SouthField.

“I have no idea what the results are or why they’d want to hold it quietly,” the mayor said. “By all means we want the public to be able to attend.”

The meeting, led by state health officials, will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Weymouth Town Hall.

The 1,400-acre former base includes land in Weymouth, Abington and Rockland.

Rockland Town Administrator Allan Chiocca said he was unaware of the report or the public meeting until contacted by a reporter. And the chairman of Abington’s board of selectmen, Michael Franey, received no notice of the meeting.

It is also unclear why it has taken state health officials so long to disclose the results of the health study that was completed nearly a decade ago.

“The study began in late 1990s, and it includes a surveillance period of 1998-2003. … The study has undergone extensive peer review,” Anne Roach, the spokeswoman for the department, said Monday in an e-mailed response.

The World War II-era air base closed in 1997 but is still considered a federal Superfund site. The Navy, which is responsible for the cleanup, estimates that about 85 to 90 percent of the pesticides, solvents, heavy metals and other potentially harmful materials have been removed from the site.

David Ozonoff, an expert in Superfund sites and a Boston University School of Public Health professor, sharply criticized the public health department for not disclosing the data sooner.

“It’s absolutely outrageous that the DPH buttons up information the way it does,” Ozonoff said Monday.

Some residents near the former base who have worried about the health effects of so much pollution are also questioning why the state waited so long to release its investigation results.

“I’m extremely surprised it’s taken this long,” said Liz Tomolillo, a former Rockland resident who was diagnosed with MS in 2000 and then began her own research study of disease rates in neighborhoods near the base.

Tomolillo began knocking on doors along streets in a one-mile radius of the former base and found dozens of people with MS and other diseases.

“I said, let’s put them on a map, and right down French’s Stream and both runways, they were dropping like flies,” she said Monday in a telephone from her home in Florida. “People were shocked how many red dots were on that map. I knew there’s something wrong.”

But Dr. Michael Hayes, a neurologist South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, said it is hard to draw any lines between environmental exposure and the two diseases studied by state health officials.

“There’s not any clear epidemiologic evidence that there’s a specific trigger or toxin that causes these types of diseases,” Hayes said Monday.

But he is very curious to see if the report shows any geographic cluster of diseases because it would prompt further research.

Kevin Donovan, CEO of South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., the agency overseeing redevelopment at the former base, is also eager to hear the report’s findings.

Donovan also said he received no word from the state that such a meeting was coming up. He said he last heard from the department three or four years ago when an assistant commissioner said the review was still in progress.

“They promised me they would call and I have heard nothing and I know nothing about it,” he said. “I would have liked to have been notified and more importantly I would like to see the report.”

Chris Burrell may be reached at cburrell@ledger.com and Christian Schiavone at cschiavone@ledger.com.